The Rock Isle Mulwala Festival was held
over the
Easter long weekend from 31 March to 2 April 1972. The event is almost
forgotten today. The exact site of the festival is not yet known, but
it was held on the northern side of the river, presumably some distance
out of town.

Mulwala (NSW) and Yarrawonga (Vic.) are
twin towns
located on either side of the Murray River on the NSW-Victorian border,
about 260km north-west of Melbourne. Mulwala is west of Albury, about
halfway between Corowa and Cobram, on the NSW side of the river. Known
as "Victoria's Playground" the Yarrawonga-Mulwala area was first
settled
in the 1840s and is now a popular tourist destination thanks to its
proximity to the Murray and Lake Mulwala, which was created in 1939.

Richard
Miles has very kindly provided us with a
transcription of the festival programme published Daily Planet on 5
April 1972:

This
program changed during the event --
on the Saturday Canned Heat were on after Carson, Icabod Crane were on
after that, and Friends were on at 1am. Monday's
program was cancelled
completely as it was washed out by heavy rain.

Although the organisers boasted that it
would be
"bigger than Woodstock", Mulwala was a flop. As a result, it has long
been
overshadowed by the huge success of the first Sunbury
festival,
held a couple of months earlier. In spite of a great roster of local
bands and two leading overseas acts, Canned Heat
and Steven Stills & Manassas, Mulwala was
by all accounts a rather dismal experience -- rain turned the festival
site into a quagmire, the third day was totally washed out and had to
be cancelled, and it was marred throughout by alcohol, violence and
general
bad vibes, including sound problems. The poor attendance , combined with the high
cost of the imported acts, sent the organisers broke.

Despite the negative aspects, there were
apparently
a some bright moments, with local acts Friends, Country Radio and
Russell
Morris all giving strong and well-received performances. In a rather
unfortunate bit of scheduling, Carson were slotted in right before
Canned Heat, and Melbourne's kings of boogie reportedly blew their
American confreres off the stage.

The festival's failure was a combination of overly high
expectations, poor planning and simple bad luck. By
placing it at Mulwala, roughly equidistant from Sydney and Melbourne,
the organisers hoped to draw a large crowd from both cities, but it was
poorly advertised and so didn't attract the numbers required to break
even. The low turn-out, combined with the enormous cost of the two
overseas acts ($35,000 apiece) sent the organisers broke -- presaging
what
happened to Odyssey Promotions three years later with the final
disastrous Sunbury festival in 1975. The final nail in the coffin was
the
timing -- staging it just two months after Sunbury was not
a great idea to begin with, and the choice of the Easter break was also
a bad idea, since south-eastern Australia is notorious for bad weather
at
that time of year; true to form, Mulwala copped a classic Easter
weekend downpour.

Very little information about Mulwala is
extant on
the web, although happily some long-lost live footage from GTK of Stephen Stills & Manassas at Mulwala has recently been posted on YouTube, and it features some scorching palying by steel guitarist Al Perkins.

This page, sourced in part from discussions thread
on the Rock'n'Roll Scars mailing list, represents
just about all the available information about Mulwala and is probably
the largest amount of coverage this festival has ever had since it was
staged. Mulwala gets one short and unpromising
mention in
the "Festivals" section of Ian McFarlane's Encyclopedia:

"In April 1972, Mulwala, held on
the banks of the
Murray River inland from Albury, was a disaster. Canned Heat and
Stephen Stills' Manassas took the money and ran. The local bands hardly
got a look in."

McFarlane's reference (and other accounts) suggest that, like
Sunbury
'75, there was friction between the overseas and local acts and that, as
with Deep Purple at Sunbury, the international visitors received
the lion's share of the takings, the promoters went bust and most of
the local bands got
nothing. Steven Stills gave an interview to
Go-Set
on 28 October 1972 which touched on his performance at
Mulwala, mentioning that he was not happy
about the event, describing it as 'mud and complete chaos'; by his
account the band couldn't do a sound check, so their
sound wasn't too good and consequently they didnt do a good show. He
described it as a 'joke' and commented that Australia was like
America twenty
years before."

The late Adrian Rawlins
was a
familiar presence at many early festivals. He touches on Mulwala in his
book on Australian
music festivals:

"Inspired by this very obvious
success [Sunbury], a group of rival
television people quickly organised another festival for the end of
1972. This was the Mulwala Festival, held on the banks of Murray,
inland from Albury. The idea was that a site midway between the two
major capitals would attract a vast audience. It didn't!"

"This
festival boasted two international acts,
"Canned Heat" and Steven Stills "Manassas", which included Chris
Hilman, who had appeared in the Hilman Bros Band,The Flying Burrito
Brothers and the revamped The Byrds. Both bands played well but as they
but as they had not been advertised as headliners, so they didn't pull
any extra people. Each band cost $35,000 and two months after the
festival, the organizing company went down for $70,000."

Notwithstanding the many problems, Mulwala was an important appearance for Russell Morris,
who at the time was trying to break away from his teen idol image and establish himself as a serious
singer-songwriter. He was on the road promoting his make-or-break solo
album Bloodstone, and f*or this tour
Russell was backed by Melbourne group Cycle,
which included some noted Melbourne players like drummer Geoff
Cox (Bootleg
Family Band) and future LRB lead guitarist David
Briggs. Russell
was showcasing the new songs from Bloodstone
on a national tour but he was finding it hard to gain acceptance
and break away from his earlier pop image. Despite some negative
responses at other gigs during the tour, Russell reportedly got a warm
reception from the Mulwala crowd, performing his new repertoire
interspersed with a selection of earlier hits.

According
to Richard Miles the only major coverage of the
event, other than sensational reports from the daily
newspapers, was in editions of Daily
Planet of 5/4/72, 12/4/72
and and Go Set
of 22/4/72 and Terry Stacey noted the interview in Go-Set of 28/10/1972.

The Rock'n'roll Scars mailing list generated discussion of Mulwala from
several members who had attended, some of which is lsisted below. It
was sparked by a
post from David Bromage, who reported news that a group of twenty-eight
professional quality photographs of the festival had been
donated to the National Library of Australia from a deceased estate.
The call number of the items is PIC P2193/1-28 LOC drawers
B30-B31.

Apart
from two brief references in MILESAGO about
the appearances of Tamam Shud and Russell Morris, a reference on Dave
Graney's site, and the entry in McFarlane's Encyclopedia,
the only other major web reference located at the time of writing
was a Charles Sturt
University listing of the police record of occurrences, held in the NSW
State Archives:

The article below (kindly provided by Terry Stacey) was originally published in Daily Planet
on 19 April 1972, a couple of weeks after the festival. Correspondent
'Dean Moriarty' touches on the problems of the festival, then
interviews Tamam Shud's Lindsay Bjerre and Bruce ? of Highway.

By now Mulwala will have been dissected, discussed
and, I should imagine, generally put down. It wasn't a good
festival.The promoters once again had little respect for artists and
audience. Jim Keays, hired to compere the show, spent a night with his
wife on the ground in the rain. There were other nuisances like no
signs on the showers and thusly the ladies having to put up with
gentlemen showering next to them. But festivals will be festivals."

Two
bands that are trying to inject originality
into the Australian scene are Tamam Shud and Highway. Tamam Shud have
received over the years an affinity with surfing unequalled by any
other band save The Beach Boys. An unfortunate marriage because these
days the Shud have developed from being just another band into one of
the finest and most musically refreshing bands we have. Richard
Lockwood's confident and masterful saxophone/clarinet/flute playing
coupled with Tim Gaze's enthusiastic and talented guitar work have
given the group an extra dimension in originality.

I had a
talk with Lindsay Bjerre, singer, guitarist
and songwriter in their tent at Mulwala.

What
do you think of Mulwala?

It's
getting better because I'm getting further
away from it. I'm a couple of hundred yards down the river which is
pretty cool. It's good to visit but but you wouldn't want to stay here,
you know. I mean if you came at night and watched a few groups it would
be good but I couldn't handle grovelling in the dirt like a lot are
doing. I can't stand feeling dirty for too long.

Do
you think the festival's being by young
people or old-minded people?

About
in-between. There's some stupid things like
putting Carson on before Canned Heat. Two boogie bands. Carson really
ripped it and then they sat in the audience and then there was that
can-throwing thing and then Canned Heat had to turn around and play
boogie music to warm them all back up again, which wasn't fair to them.

Do
you think the Australian bands are
being treated pretty bad here by the promoters?

I think
accommodation could have been a bit better.

Do
you think kids are being treated
fairly? Out there?

Yeah. Oh
they never are. They're real piggy
conditions. It looks like Stalag 17 or something. you look out there
and that big tower with the lights on looks like a machine-gun turret
and the big wire fence with the prisoners behind it.

What
about the barbed wire?

Barbed
wire says "Well, we really don't want you to
come over." Can you imagine if the crowd was running around near the
stage with all that equipment?

Do
you think there's a communal feeling
between the people out there?

There
must be. Let's face it. There's the drunks
with tattoos, falling on their faces and yelling "Suck more piss!"
There's a lot of them so they must feel as one. There's the people
"paranoiding" around so in their many different ways they couldn't feel
alone. I think the setting's good, though the river's pretty
treacherous.

Do
you think your band's jelled at all
here?

The
music coming out sounded good but they guys
couldn't feel it. I think you get up there expecting to hear everybody
but all you hear is yourself and a bit of the guy next to you so you
freak out and don't get the "full on" thing like the people are getting
and you get deflated and you can't put on your best. I felt alright but
a couple of the guys got really uptight. They're pretty sensitive
players.

Due
to the fact that they're bringing out
more overseas bands do you think it will benefit Australian acts?

Oh sure.
For a start they haven't sounded greatly
better than Australian groups. If they sounded incredible it would
frighten us out but they haven't sounded incredible. John Mayall was
good but he just jammed. I think Pink Floyd would have blown a lot of
minds because nobody here is on that trip.

What
is the difference between Australian
and overseas acts?

There
must be an audience an experience difference.
Bands over there can go down the street and see so many styles of music.

Are
you planning to go overseas?

Yes, but
I'd dig to come down to Melbourne and get
a little rehearsal band together. Just jamming. I think that's what all
bands need. Have your proper group to play in and do the other thing on
the side. Like the way jazz players have side bands. One day you might
put it on stage as an extra thing. you get groups jamming and it's a
whole mess but if you get a little group together, get some really good
songs off and you're right. That's what I'd like to do before I go
overseas. I'd like to get a big band together with a couple of
drummers, trumpets, keyboards, etc. Things I've never worked with. A
lot of things I write we don't play because the band's not large enough
to play it. I could give it to SCRA because they have the
instrumentation. I like SCRA but sometimes they get a bit "soully" and
"hotelly". Tonight they were great.

What
do you think of the drink scene at
festivals?

I'd like
to say that it would be good not to have
any liquor at a festival but now and again I feel "Gee I'd like a beer"
myself. It gets out of hand like it always does so I think the one or
two should sacrifice and not have the drink in. Maybe it would be a
smaller festival but it would be better but then again the promoters
wouldn't like that because it's less money.

What
does Tamam Shud mean?

"The
End" in Persian

Who
picked the name?

A Dutch
guy found it in the end of 'The Rubaiyat' by
Omar Khayyam. He was flicking through the book and I was picking out
names. I put the book down and he opened it up again at the back page
and there was written Tamam Shud which meant The End and I thought gee
that was too much because it really didn't mean anything. I dig it when
people call us the Shud because of the simplicity of it. It sounds more
personal.

How's
Richard fitting in?

Really
well. He's such a happy, easy person on
stage. He's always a good vibe because you look across stage and he's
always smiling and it gives you that extra sting you know, it makes you
play much better.

Highway,
since coming over from New Zealand, have
managed to have a slowly growing legion of admirers. A happy,
easy-going band they drift through life seemingly unworried about the
pitfalls of success. Their country-oriented music lacks heaviness which
is the current trend but I feel personally that their musical
excellence will win out and that towards the end of this year they will
become a major "individual" force in rock.

Bruce,
their singer, has a slow drawl and a relaxed
personality that embodies their happy approach to music.

I
want to ask you some questions.

What do
you wan to ask me some questions for? Don't
make it too complicated cos I couldn't handle it.

You
were a really big band in New Zealand.
What did you expect here?

I didn't
really expect anything. I just came over
to improve.

Do
you think you've had a fair shake since
you've been here?

Aw,
yeah, well, I think so. Overall, considering
what we've done, because we changed the drummer and that always sets
you back a bit.

Is
Eric fitting in?

Oh yeah!
He's great.

What
happened to your single?

Well it
hasn't been released yet. I haven't heard
about a release date yet from Sparmac, which is a bit of a hang-up.

Your
music is much lighter and happier
than most bands. Do you think that holds you back a bit?

Yeah,
well, really that's not the current thing, is
it? Not here anyway.

Who
writes all your stuff?

It's
usually an idea from Phil. Like he'll come
along with a pattern or something like that, you know. Then George will
add an idea for arranging because he's done a lot of arranging. He's
studied it a fair bit. Then I'll stick a vocal line on it, you know.
Write some words on whatever mood the song's in.

What's
the band looking for this year?

Well we
need a bit more money so we don't have to
worry about it and concentrate on the playing side of things.

Are
you starting to get a lot of work?

Yeah
we're getting more than before.

What's
it like living in Australia
compared to New Zealand in regard to band life?

Yeah,
well the other two guys have been over here
before. Phil was over here for a year with The Retaliation that later
turned into Strawpatch. George also played bass in Freshwater. It's not
that much different really.

What
bands influenced you in your music?

Well a
lot of country guys influenced the
guitarists like Robbie Robertson, James Burton and so on and that flows
over into our style of music.

What
do you try to generate when you're
playing?

A sort
of really relaxed thing that has a lot of
continuity. Just to give the audience a good feeling.

(Article
courtesy of Terry Stacey)

Recollections

Tim
Gaze (Tamam
Shud):

"My
memories on Rock Isle
Mulwala -- crikey -- I went
to that festival in the back of a Transit van that belonged to the band
Highway from NZ. Steve Stills and Manassas came out here to do the
festival -- they were rumoured to have had a chilly reception at
Melbourne airport -- searched etc. I also heard that Charlie Tumahai
said 'gedday' to Stills, only to
be spat upon, but don't take this as gospel -- the Manassas boys were a
little pissed off apparently -- played good though. Who
knows what really
went on? Lots of
chemically-affected shit going on in '72. Thorpie brained 'em to the
famous cry of 'Suck More Piss'. I got really ill after eating three
jam-filled donuts -- hideously sick, and that's about it really. I
think it was good to get back to Melbourne and forgedaboudit."

Greg
Quill
(Country Radio):

"I
remember bits and
pieces of the event, but not
its name 'til now. Stills and Canned Heat were given star treatment,
and didn't fraternize with the local talent. They came and went. I was
impressed by Manassas -- very organized guitar band with great
percussion, a touch of African rhythm, and excellent harmonies. Very
big band, I remember. And Stills appeared cranky, detached all the time
on stage. Maybe scared. It was probably the most primitive audience
he'd ever seen."

"Canned
Heat seemed so
lightweight compared to
Australian blues bands like Chain and Carson, though they mustered up a
very decent, very authentic kind of shuffle. Falsetto vocals, flute and
a wispy little harmonica -- seemed a bit kitsch to me. That was the
weekend I remember feeling -- under the influence of a great deal of
dope -- the full impact of Carson. They could turn a one-chord groove
into a stampede."

"I
vaguely remember an
aggressive, pissed (pissed
off?) crowd, and not a large one at all. I think everyone was down
because it was clear from the start that Mulwala was a wash-out, that
we probably wouldn't get paid, that no-one was going to enjoy it. I don't know who the promoter was. It
was a bad vibe. Maybe
that's why I can't
remember much about it."

Richard Miles:
"[Daily]
Planet had a
fair amount of stuff about
Mulwala both before and after the event, I'm pretty sure they had a
list of who was on, they definitely had reviews of the festival (I'll
dig them out and have a look). Canned Heat were there, I think Billy
Thorpe was as well, Gerry Humphrys was one of the comperes (he invented
his Ongo Bongo chant there) as was Jim Keays I think. Go-Set
had a one page review of it too. The third (last) day of it was washed
out!"

Geoff Green
"I
was there. Pretty sure
it was 1972. It was an
ugly show. Alcohol and fights. It was the last of the "peace" "love"
3-day concert in Australia. Woodstock was now a dream. I went to
Sunbury 1, 2 and 3. Sunbury No.3 was even getting heavy. "I
went to the Myponga
festival late 71 or early 72
and saw the Australian debut of Black Sabbath along with the fantastic
Jeff Crozier and his Magic Show. I would rate that festival as one of
the best in Oz."

Tim O'Leary
"I
think Steven
Stills was there as well. Yep.
I saw him snorting
coke in the caravan at the
back of the stage. I
agree it was mostly
bloody ugly and a musical
disappointment."

Geoff
G., Sat, 18 May 2002:
"I went to the Myponga festival late 71 or early 72 and saw the
Australian debut of Black Sabbath along with the fantastic
Jeff
Crozier and his Magic Show. I would rate that festival as one
of the best in Oz. Does anyone have any info on Myponga festival?"

David Bromage
"I
have read conflicting
reports about whether Cat
Stevens was there. Some sources say he was, others say he cancelled. I
had a few direct
emails which didn't go to the
group. So far I have recollections of Steven Stills, Canned Heat,
Slade, Coloured Balls,Manassas, La De Das, Tamam Shud, Country Radio,
Chain, Frieze, Burke & Wills, Carson, Billy Thorpe &
The Aztecs, Russell Morris & Cycle, and Doug Parkinson being
there. It's
a shame that
Sunbury cast a shadow over its
predecessors. You don't see nearly as much written about Ourimbah,
Odyssey, Myponga or Fairlight."

Geoff Green:

"Cat
Stevens never made
it. He was cancelled. Thank
you Tim for
agreeing. Mulwala brought the axe
down on love and peace. I
remember at the
Mulwala concert seeing a bunch of
bikies laying into one man. Actually he looked more like a teenager. He
had long hair and was wearing the usual hippie clothing. To me that
symbolised the death of the hippie era.

"I
was 13 and got into
the Rock Isle (Mulwala) pop
festival, under the fence. The act on stage was Greg Quill and Country
Radio. They had cowboy hats and I was impressed ... everyone else was
pissed out of their heads."

References
/ Links

Thanks to David Bromage, Geoff
Green, Richard Miles and Tim O'Leary for contributing to the
discussion, Terry Stacey for his invaluable help with sources and Tim Gaze and Greg Quill for their
personal recollections.